


Instinct

by ladybubblegum



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi, Non-Sexual Intimacy, non-sexual but not exactly platonic bed-sharing, non-sexual hurt/comfort, talk of future possible relationship between adults and someone who is currently a teenager, vague description of suicide attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-16
Updated: 2015-01-16
Packaged: 2018-03-07 18:55:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3179480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladybubblegum/pseuds/ladybubblegum
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the events of Perishable, Derek and Braeden take Scott back to the loft to clean him up and offer him comfort after a long and traumatic night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Instinct

**Author's Note:**

> Potential trigger warnings: There is a small but vague mention of Scott's suicide attempt in Motel California. I don't think it was incredibly triggering, but I am warning for it just in case.
> 
> Also, Derek, Braeden, and (obviously underage) Scott briefly discuss the potential for a relationship in the future. However, nothing sexual at all happens in this fic.

Scott was still in a daze when Derek and Braeden bundled him into the SUV, and didn’t even realize they were going anywhere until they were pulling into the large industrial building that housed Derek’s loft apartment. The elevator ride up the loft seemed to take seconds where it should have taken minutes, and suddenly he was standing in the middle of Derek’s spacious bathroom, Derek pulling his still-soaked shirt off his head.

“Can you handle yourself in the shower?” he asked Scott softly, ducking his head to meet Scott’s unfocused eyes. “Do you need me to stay?”

Scott shook his head. “I can do it. I just don’t--” he trailed off, waving a hand in the direction of his discarded shirt.

“I’ve got clothes you can borrow,” Derek assured him, smiling. “Don’t worry. You just shower, I’ll take care of everything else. Was your phone wrecked?”

Scott pulled it out of his pocket and hit the power button. The screen was damp but it lit up fine enough. “Looks like it’s okay. Might wanna wash it off.”

“After I tell your mother where you are, I’m tossing it,” Derek told him sternly. Scott frowned at him. Derek sighed. “I’ll buy you another one. There’s enough trouble in this town without you walking around with a gasoline-soaked phone in your pocket.”

Scott shook his head. “You don’t have to.”

“I want to,” Derek whispered, putting a hand on Scott’s shoulder comfortingly. He was warm. “Shower. Me and Braeden are just outside, shout if you need anything.”

Scott nodded, and Derek smiled gently at him before leaving the bathroom. Scott stripped the rest of his clothes and walked to the (seriously gorgeous) shower, turning the knobs and waiting for the water to get to a comfortable temperature before stepping inside. He rinsed the gasoline out of his hair first, squeezing his eyes tight against the water until he was sure the toxic liquid couldn’t find its way into his eyes.

He stood still beneath the spray for what seemed like forever, just thinking. He nearly died tonight. He’d nearly died a lot of times in the last year, really, but tonight was the first time he’d felt the fear of death so viscerally. He’d been seconds away from being set ablaze--for the second time. His head filled with visions of that motel parking lot, his best friend and first love pleading with him not to do it, not to drop the flare in his hand, but he’d been so sure that it had been the best possible outcome for everyone involved--

“Scott?” came Derek’s voice suddenly, breaking him out of his thoughts. How long had he spaced out? “I’ve got you some clothes that’ll fit. You doing okay?”

“Yeah,” he called back, reaching for the shampoo. “I’ll be out in a few.”

The rest of his shower was quick and uneventful. He washed his hair, his body, methodical and thorough. He was shutting off the water before he gave himself the chance to slip back into his thoughts.

Derek’s clothes were resting on the counter next to the sink, carefully folded. Scott slipped them on, the material soft against his warmed skin. He felt clean and refreshed, renewed as if the events of the night had been just a terrible dream. He let himself believe it for a while.

He made his way back into the main room, the change in temperature chilling his skin. Braeden was stretched out on the couch, looking tired, but she jumped up as Scott approached.

“Hey,” she greeted, putting her hands on his shoulders as he reached her. “How are you feeling? Better?”

“Much,” he told her, smiling. He glanced around for Derek, but he was nowhere to be found. “Where’s…?”

“Kitchen, getting plates,” Braeden said. “We ordered pizza, if you’re hungry.”

“We could also bring you home, if you want,” Derek said, emerging from the kitchen area, three plates in his hands. “Just let me know, I’ll bring you back whenever you like.”

Scott thought about it. Honestly, he wanted nothing more than his own warm, comfortable bed and a good long sleep, but his mother was still at work and would be until morning. While he normally didn’t have a problem having the house to himself, with his head in such a weird space, he didn’t want to be alone.

“Pizza sounds great.”

\---

Derek had gotten a meat lover’s pie--the biggest one made by Scott’s favorite place. The three of them hung out on the couch, eating, Scott on one side, Derek in the middle, and Braeden on his other side, her feet propped familiarly on Derek’s lap. He’d had a feeling something was happening between the two of them, but Scott hadn’t been aware they’d become so close.

Scott could see the difference, though, in both of them. Braeden seemed more relaxed, and Scott had never seen Derek smile so much, or so wide, or so warm. They were both completely different people than when he’d first met them, and he couldn’t help but be deliriously happy for them, even as he felt like a bit of an intruder.

Between the three of them, the pizza was polished off fairly quickly. Even after, they were reluctant to move and break the good mood. They were all laughing as Braeden told stories of her time as a U.S. Marshall (the good stories, of course, the ones that end happy or just plain funny; it made Scott feel better to know that even in a job like that, there could be good times too). For just a moment, Scott could forget about the deadpool, forget about all the people trying to kill him and the people he loved, forget about the fact that the man sitting next to him with the beautiful rare smile on his face was almost definitely going to be one of the casualties before all this was over.

Almost like he’d read Scott’s mind, Derek turned to him. “You okay?” A comforting hand curled around his shoulder. Scott just nodded, not trusting himself to speak. “Do you want me to take you home?” At that, Scott shook his head. To be honest, he didn’t really know what he wanted.

“You wanna stay here?” Braeden asked, peering at him over Derek’s shoulder. The question was light and unassuming. They were being so nice to him--he spared a thought to the duffel bag shoved under his bed and felt suddenly, intensely guilty.

“I don’t want to impose, you’ve done so much already--”

“Scott,” Derek interrupted, squeezing his shoulder. “Stay. Please. You’ve had a long night and I know you’re mom’s not gonna be home for hours. I’ll feel better if you stay.”

Having the choice taken out of his hands was relieving. He smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, uh, if you have a spare pillow and a blanket, I can just pass out here,” Scott said, shifting on the couch and looking around for spare bedding that looked useable.

Derek and Braeden froze and looked at him like he was crazy.

“You’ve been sitting on this couch for the last hour,” Derek pointed out. “You can’t possibly think it’s comfortable enough to sleep on.”

Scott laughed. “Trust me, I’ve slept on worse. You should try the easy chair in my room. Woken up on that thing more times than I can count. I can handle a couch.”

“You’re not sleeping on the couch,” Braeden said bluntly.

“We’d like you not to sleep on the couch,” Derek clarified. “Look, I’m not...trying something here. But I...like to think we’re pack.”

“Of course we’re pack,” Scott told him, a hand on his arm. Derek smiled at him.

“When someone in the pack is injured or upset, it’s instinct for our kind to offer comfort,” Derek explained. “Both emotional and physical. It’s not uncommon for pack members to share a bed. It’s your call, though. That’s not something that needs to happen.”

Scott looked into his eyes, and thought about what was being offered. He didn’t have the same kind of instincts that Derek did, having not been born the way he was. Sometimes he wondered if that was the reason they’d had so much trouble connecting on that level.

But he was in no position to turn down comfort. Especially not from someone who knew exactly what he needed to be comforted after. Especially not from people as beautiful as these two.

Scott had eyes. Braeden was a stunningly beautiful woman, and Derek was equally as attractive. He’d had thoughts before, of course, but there had always been other people in his life, more important things to think about than hopeless crushes on people who were too old for him.

“I...want it to happen,” Scott said. “You’re right. I need it. I need my pack tonight. But, just to be clear.” He swallowed, his throat dry. “You know I’m attracted to you. Both of you.” It wasn’t a question.

Derek nodded. “Yeah. But you understand that that’s not what this is about, right? And this doesn’t change the fact that you’re too young.”

“I understand that. I just wanted to make sure we’re on the same page,” Scott said softly.

“In a couple years,” said Braeden, obviously choosing her words carefully, “We’ll see what happens. We can’t make any promises, but if we’re here again. Maybe.”

It was more than Scott had expected, to be honest. They pulled him up, abandoning the mess from the pizza (years of helping his mother with housework was urging him to clean it up now, to save an even bigger mess later, but he squashed it down).

Derek’s bed was huge, and could have fit all three of them with plenty of room between them, but the second they climbed in, Scott was sandwiched tightly between them, Derek at his back and Braeden curling into his side. Scott forced his libido down as far as he could as Derek’s hand rubbed his shoulder. This wasn’t about sex. It was about comfort.

The three of them, curled up together, fell into the deepest and most restful sleep Scott had had in months.

\---

He woke slowly to the morning sun on his face. Braeden was still in the bed with him, but Derek had disappeared. Scott sat up carefully and looked around for him, finding him on the couch, tapping away at his phone. He slid slowly out of the bed, miraculously not waking Braeden, and walked around it to approach Derek. He felt more awake and energized than he had in a long time.

“Lydia called,” Derek told him when he was close enough. “Stiles has been trying to get in touch with you.” At Scott’s panicked intake of breath, he held his hand out. “She said they’re both fine, Stiles has a concussion and he’s heading to the hospital but otherwise he’s completely okay. Something went down at Eichen House, something about an orderly attacking them.”

Somewhat calmer, Scott sighed. “Alright, um. Can you get in touch with Malia, let her know? She’ll be worried.”

Derek frowned. “I thought they weren’t together anymore.” Scott smiled.

“Trust me, she’ll be worried,” he said. “She’ll probably make a beeline for the hospital as soon as she hears. They’ll work things out.”

“Breakfast?” Derek asked, returning to his typing.

“No, I should probably go,” Scott said. “Thank you, for last night.”

Derek looked up from his phone, then leaned forward to rest his arms on his knees, staring up intently at Scott. “Any time. I mean that. When I told you you were gonna be good at this, I wasn’t just puffing you up. I meant it. If I get to choose an Alpha, I choose you. In a heartbeat.”

“You get to choose,” Scott told him. “Screw tradition. You’re part of my pack.”

They stared at each other for a few moments, quietly, before Derek stood. “I texted Malia and Stiles to let them know what was up. Let me take you home. I have a pair of boots you can borrow. They might be too big, but they’ll get you home.”

As he followed Derek out of the apartment, he knew all his problems weren’t solved. There was still the crushing fear of the deadpool and of the monster lurking beneath his skin that he was terrified of unleashing, there was still so much danger for so many people he loved.

But with his pack by his side, he finally believed they really could do this.

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks again to the Root Cellar chat for their cheerleading, and to Anne for setting up this whole event. While I don't typically care for Derek too much, I care for anon hate and ship shaming even less. Plus any chance I get to support my friends like this is always nice. :)


End file.
